Perfect Hiding
by SapphireMoons
Summary: AU. The world is in chaos and the Band of Seven are in the center of it. A tale of how they had come to meet each other once more, even in the modern world, condemned to a fate in which none understood but them. Rated for Blood and Language
1. In The Dead of Night

Chapter 1: In The Dead of Night

As the title suggests, it was so.

Bankotsu let out a small breath as he narrowed his cobalt orbs on the city below, the target silently brooding in his office, the pace of his footsteps quick and too swift to be relaxed. No, _he_ knew. Someone was here to kill _him_ and _he_ was right. How exciting. Perhaps _he_ would put up a fight.

Placing a hand to his ear, the boy who was no more than seventeen, smirked, speaking into the ebony bluetooth. "Ginkotsu, fire the harpoons for the others. Jakotsu, second floor. Renkotsu, third. Mukotsu, the ventilation room in the basement, set up. And Kyokotsu, you're with Suikotsu on the ground."

"Yes, oo-aniki!" The six men nodded as the second youngest spoke up.

"But what about you, Bankotsu?"

"I've got the paranoid one on the fourth." The leader smirked as chuckles echoed from the others, the sound of shooting harpoons accompanying them. "Three minutes, guys. And we're outta here."

Grunts and cries of approval were all the seventeen-year-old needed as he stood from his perch, smirk growing as he took a moment to admire his older brothers' handiwork. The politician should have known better than to have set up his communications building in such a shady area, especially where bodies and gunshots were so common that they were heard and found without a blink of surprise.

Turning to the first floor, the leader watched as his brothers silenced the man's guards, blood spilling and splattering with a delightful spray on the overpriced furniture and main lobby. Kyokotsu was roaring in quiet laughter as the guards shot bullets, none penetrating the giant's skin as the giant crushed them, the imagined sound of crushed marrow sending shivers of delight up the leader's spine. On the other side, Suikotsu pawed and grinned at his victims' terror, lithe and lethal movements like a cat as the man tore the men into rags of flesh that were once their faces a moment ago.

Moving on, the second floor was filled with feminine screams, that were muffled to the leader as he watched from the outskirts of the buildings, as his youngest older brother tore apart the women with a snarl of disgust, the hatred brimming from Jakotsu's face. Only to smile in delight as a sole man stood in terror of the gore that surrounded him.

 _Oh, he found it._ Bankotsu noted with a light smile as he didn't know whether to feel bad or to smile in mirth, on the fact that the man was handsome and due to that he was probably able to rise to the top at advising the politician in his policies, but it was now what made him Jakotsu's current prey and plaything.

Leaving his brother to his fun, the leader looked to the fiery third floor. Lit with orange and red flames, the perspiration that ran down the entrapped workers and the panic on the windows of their souls, it was invigorating as Renkotsu encased them in a cage of flame-lined steel wires. The bald brother chuckled with mirth as Ginkotsu came to view, the metal man throwing a small black box only to ensue more panic. _Psychological warfare at it's best._

 _My turn._ The seventeen-year-old smirked largely as he pulled over his cap, hiding his braid and face as he clipped himself onto the steel cord fired by Ginkotsu a mere minute ago. Sending a glance to his watch, which informed him of having two minutes, the boy blinked in mirth, having time aplenty. Zip lining in mere seconds, the boy released the wire, dissembling immediately as the leader executed a fluid flip, landing on the roof with such gracefulness that acrobats would have been jealous. Entering, the leader swung open the main office, leaving the snap of necks echoing in the halls.

The main office was dark, the lights cut off, courtesy of Ginkotsu as the leader opened the door, the man to which the room belonged, seated as if awaiting his arrival, seemingly calm but the thundering heartbeat informed the leader of the opposite. "So, you have come. Late, compared to the rest of you."

"Well, I would have come earlier but I couldn't let the others have the fun." The boy shrugged, a lackadaisical smile on his lips, all that the politician could see as the boy decided to play a bit.

"I see." The man sighed shakily, obviously frightened of the boy who stood before him, head cocked on one side almost innocently. "W-Why do you do this? Do not see what your actions would do? I-I have a family! Don't you have one, or are so heartless that you —?"

"Shut up." The boy hissed, as he threw a thin blade, lodging into the man's throat as the boy snaked before him with a cruel smirk, pinning the man on the velvet carpet as blood pooled. "You politicians think that with a couple of words you can scare the masses off, but you are nothing more than a coward."

"You have a family?" The boy inquired before he scoffed, the man under him choking in his own blood. "So? So does the people you crush to get power. And what's even more amusing is that with your death, you will being feeding mine."

With a swift pull, the blade tore from the man's throat, blood gushing as the boy's lips grew in smirk as blood splattered on his face, twirling the thin dagger with a grin as turquoise orbs glowed with thrill.

"Now then. How about we greet the family with one last smile?"

* * *

Police officers frowned as they arrived at the scene, the news of the murdered politician having traveled like wildfire, every politician in the vicinity demanding protection in response. So, due to the fact that the morning had started on a swell start and the coffee had yet to kick in, no one on the force was at a very good mood.

Nearing the building, the officers blinked as they took it in, floor by floor.

From the ground to the second, the building was ominously covered in blood, from the tempered windows to the scathed floor. On the first floor, white victim tapes covered every square tile, the fresh blood making even the most experienced coppers pale in the amount. It was a literal bloodbath, more than one officer retreating out the door at the sight of it, not that anyone blamed them. The white tape was placed oddly, however, some too small to be considered bodies.

A rookie tapped a forensic, as he voiced it. "Um, why are there such small parts? I thought that the white tape signified bodies."

A senior officer grasped the newbie's shoulder as the forensic looked away, instead of answering. "It does, newbie. The bastards cut them up in so many pieces that it's that small, it's going to take us forever to identify who they were; not to mention the funerals."

Green pallor are on the newbie's face as he rushed off out the building.

On the second floor, it was less savage, but nonetheless bloody. Nestled in a bed of sliced parts of what could be humans, laid a headless man, his corpse covered in lacerations and deep wounds. The head was in the man's hands, his eyes gouged neatly as his handsome face was untouched, other than a lipstick smear on his cheek. Despite the imitation of how media portrayed the massacre of people, it was hard to kill a person. But to sever the bone, muscle, and nerves from the spine and the head, these people had to have had been powerful and strong.

Above, cruelty was the overarching stench along with the smell of burnt flesh. Surrounding the cage with horror, the officers gripped their fists with rage. Tied in an elaborate knot on the very top, steel netting incased the bodies in as the net singed in black signified that it was lined with gasoline, the bodies clawing and trying to escape, frozen as the victims tried to escape to the very end. And in the very end, they died. Tripping over a small object, the senior officer narrowed his eyes on the said object, picking it up with gloves for closer inspection, only to frown in anger.

Nearing, the newbie gestured to his superior with a questioning glance. "A fake bomb? Why would they need a fake one for?"

"Think, newbie." His superior nodded toward the cage with a stoic look.

Turning back to the cage, the newbie was silent for a moment before his eyes widened once more, not for the last time today. _To create panic, for the victims to dance for them. For them to grow so panicked that they would die quickly._

After regaining their composure, the officers entered the fourth and final floor. Unlike the other floors, it was eerily tidy and clean, nothing out of place at the desk or any part for that matter. Eyes searching, the officers could find nothing out of place, as they neared the desk, the chair turned toward the wall. Silence enveloped as the officers knew with the prickling at their necks. Something or someone was on that chair.

With a slow turn of a gloved hand, gasps resonated from lips as mentions of blessings and soft curses were whispered under their breaths. Blood dripped slowly from the armrests toward the carpet, as the politician's corpse was held in place on the chair. Thin but strong needles held up the body with cruel intent, without a doubt placed as he was alive, each at a joint, plunged through the very chair. Then finally, in a gruesome smile, the once reverend politician who was known for his kind nature and philanthropist efforts, was forever to do so as staples held his slitted cheeks upright.

"S-Sir." The newbie spoke in a stutter, his inexperienced eyes wide with uncontrollable fear. Following his subordinate's line of sight, the chief of the police force caused under his breath as he bellowed out orders, well aware that he was going to be in for a very long morning.

Splattered in blood, seven individual markings glared over the granite wall. Only one group of killers ever left their mark ever so boldly and without fear of retaliation, because any who tried to imitate it was dealt with accordingly.

Shichinintai has come.


	2. Malicious Rise

Chapter 2: Malicious Rise

Bankotsu flung his school bag and jacket on the couch with a small sigh, the loosened red tie and white shirt, crinkled from a day of school. As the youngest of their makeshift family, he still had attended school, even though he was the head of the family. Glancing at the glaring ruby numbers of the microwave, the time signified that he was the only one home, other than the servants.

Removing his report card, the leader stood, placing on Renkotsu's desk before making his way to his own quarters, quickly changing out of his uniform. Replacing the white shirt for a white and dark blue hakama with an ebony stripe down it, the leader attached his blue fern-like armor loosely forgoing the one on his right shoulder as usual, all held in place with a red obi. Throwing the dress shoes and socks aside for the servants to clean up, the boy clipped arm guards and leg guards that met at his middle fingers and toes, resembling ninja footwear.

Glancing at the mirror, the boy smirked, pleased with his appearance despite his tattoo not in view. Removing the skin patch created by Mukotsu, the smirk grew in full as a deep purple star-shaped mark gleamed on his forehead.

Moments later, deep into the caverns of their home, the leader tore through his simulation of swordsmen, snipers, and armed men alike with ease, twirling his beloved aibou with expert precision, a dark smirk over his lips as he could almost imagine the blood pooling over if it was real. Bodies thuds, the groans of death, the moans of regret, the wisps of souls dissipating into the ground at his feet, the shiver that crawled up his spine as sounds of gunfire and the cracking of bones, nothing was quite like a bloody massacre of just him and his brothers. Blood, bone, and the dank earth in which it seeped into; how beautiful it was. The crimson dancing in the midst of the pale pallor of pure blanche, as it swirled in the unforgiving earth. Who could deny such beauty before their eyes?

Not Bankotsu. And neither could his brothers.

It was a particular tale, really; considering the century and time, but nonetheless, it was their's and here it was:

* * *

Bankotsu was, by no means, born into a poor or wealthy family; they had enough to get by and enough to save up for presents for special occasions. They were happy and well in despite of their limbic class over being neither above or below. From his little memory, he recalled a kind face that belonged to his father, a soothing one of his mother, and lastly, a slobbering but dimpled smile of his younger sister, barely a year old.

And that they lived in a rundown house, but was nonetheless home.

When one day, when he came home from school with handmade gifts for his younger sister in hand, everything was destroyed. Killed in an undetected gas leak, they said. Destroying all that the boy had.

As all newly formed children who became orphans were taken, it was then that the boy had stopped cutting his hair. His mother had always noted at what a shame it was for her to cut it, but he had always insisted, to look manly and powerful like his father. But now he refused — no, he could no longer — allow himself such a luxury as that.

His caretaker was cruel, as was his new 'siblings'. But he never lost.

He refused to allow himself to taste the bitter and frothing tears of defeat, that fate or whatever the fuck it was that, made him bow before. He was never going to bow before it. His pride, his past, his future, his heart, and his body refused with every cell in his body. Never would he bow down and his brothers understood that just as he did.

Jakotsu had arrived a year after he had, a pretty-like boy who refused to unclip a butterfly pin in his hair, despite of the name calling of words that the younger boy had a small to little understanding of at the time. But they made the older cry. And that was when he had found him.

Behind the orphanage, where no one was due to the rumors of monsters and demons that lurked there, Bankotsu was taken from his lull, ignorant of the soft rain that pelted his form. Throughly soaked, the boy was taken from his thoughts with a sniffle. Turning to find the source, the child found another, several years old than him but, a child all the same. Ebony hair wet in tangles with his hair pin gripped in bloody knuckles, his mismatched clothing in tatters; the older boy was obviously tormented, from the way he huddled himself and looked no higher than several inches from the ground. Bankotsu looked away with sympathy, he knew just how it felt. The feeling of uselessness and being weak, who were they to say such things to him? What had he done wrong for them to say such things?

Instead of running off, the younger boy found himself nearing the older one, who looked at the former with surprise. Whether it was due to the fact he had yet to hurt the older, or that he was here, Bankotsu found it to be both.

"Did you hurt them back?" The younger boy asked, immediately throwing the older boy off.

"W-What?" The older boy squeaked, confused.

The younger boy shifted uncomfortably in the rain, but elaborated as he shot the older one a small smirk. "Did you hurt them back for hurting you? Did you give them more than they gave you?"

Catching on, the older boy recalled the blows that he sent to his tormentors, wincing in slight sympathy as he smiled flirtatiously to the younger one, nodding. "You bet, I did."

"Then you didn't lose." The younger boy smiled back as he offered a hand to the older one, who took it, both standing in the rain.

"What's your name?" The older one asked softly as they stood in the rain.

"I'm Bankotsu. And yours?" The younger boy nodded as the older one turned away, saddened. "What's wrong?"

"I-I don't have one." The boy replied, as tears threatened to spill down his brown eyes. "M-My parents said that I didn't d-deserve one s-so…"

"Then you don't have to have one from them." Bankotsu cut in as he turned the older to him, who looked at him with shocked eyes, taking in the smiling boy who held him with warmth at the shoulders. "You can have a new one."

"I-I can?"

Nodding, the younger boy smiled. Taking the butterfly pin with soft fingers, the younger boy pinned the ebony tangles a way his mother had once shown him, intricate but simple as you only needed a single pin. "You can."

Continuing, the younger boy gestured to the pin. "How about Jakotsu?"

"J-Jakotsu?" The older boy questioned as he fingered the pin in his dirtied hair. "Why that name?"

"Because you're like a snake. Even though you're beautiful and appear to be harmless, a toxin resides in you that only you know how to bend and control. And once your enemies realize that, you already got them where you want them." Bankotsu smiled as he pointed to the older boy's blood-covered knuckles, before ending his words with a goofy grin. "And it ends like mine does."

The older boy was silent before he smiled, grabbing the younger in his arms.

"I like it." The newly named Jakotsu hugged the younger who smirked back, before raising his eyebrows in surprise. "A-And thank you, Bankotsu."

"…Your welcome, Jakotsu."

It was some time before the twosome had found the rest of their brothers. But it was because of Bankotsu that they had found the rest.

One night, it was in the ungodly hours of the midnight that Bankotsu had awoken from his slumber, a four years older than him, Jakotsu, by his side, curled up in a ball, muttering in his sleep. "Oo-aniki…"

Smirking at the nickname, Bankotsu recalled the first time Jakotsu had called him that. It was a slip of the tongue and had stuck as Jakotsu would call him that nearly every chance he got. Getting up quietly to not awaken the older, Bankotsu made his way to the toilet, not noticing the breaths of the other children, too quick to be considered asleep.

Several moments later, Bankotsu returned to the overcrowded room where the children slept, only to find it completely empty of the inhabitants other than crinkled sheets and semi-warm blankets that were so tattered that they were barely considered so. Glancing around and narrowing his cobalt orbs, the boy knew something was off, and now, Jakotsu was gone.

Dashing out the room, the boy tore open every door, searching for Jakotsu.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing but what he found earlier.

A grunt took the boy from his search, immediately bursting the backdoor to find a scene that would give him nightmares throughout his life. Huddled in a circle, all the other orphans were beating something. His ears numbed to the words, a cry cut right through so soft that the other children couldn't have heard it in the uproar of their laughter. "O-Oo-aniki…"

Crescent half-moon moons cut in his fists, Bankotsu only saw red as he lunged with dark cry. His fist met flesh, the hard bone underneath cracking, as the boy barely registered the pain in his hands before a sickening pleasure coursed over his person. _How dare they. How dare they touch his brother. How dare they hurt Jakotsu. The closest thing he had left to what he could call as his family. How fucking dare they._

Arms grabbed his waist, to which the bloodied boy spun and sent a swift round-house kick, making no indication that he heard the crunch other than a tingle that ran down his skin. A back met his own before Bankotsu saw things clearly once more, pausing in his raised fist caught by a bloody hand, only to meet with Jakotsu's bloodied form, appearing worse than it actually was.

"Jakotsu…" The younger boy whispered, as the older boy smiled, scabs at his knuckles reopened as the boys lowered their hands. "…Are you alright?"

"Yeah." The older boy nodded, wiping the ricocheted blood off the younger boy's cheek with a bloody grin.

"Y-You…" A weak voice spoke, taking the boys from their moment, to turn to the ringleader of the children. "Y-You two are c-crazy…I knew you were weird…you stupid brat and you homo freak…"

Glancing at his bloody knuckles before turning to the older boy, a bloodthirsty grin grew at Bankotsu's lips as Jakotsu seemed to mirror it, grins that the boys would wear often into their lives as the younger boy pulled back an arm, gripped into a blood-covered fist. "Glad to be of service, but I think we're tired of your disgusting existence. Die, scum."

And with a swift punch, the fat child was dead, blood spurting from his lips.

 _Red._ Bankotsu looked at the crimson with a new fascination. _Why did they teach him to shun it? It was what ran in their body, and when it made itself evident, it was a sight to behold._

Beside him, the younger turned to the older boy, finding the same fascination reflected back at him. Jakotsu understood. Smirking, the two boys moved almost automatically. With some miracle, their caretaker had not awaken in the midst of the evening action, probably too drunk on her ass from what Bankotsu concluded in hindsight.

And it was the next week that the two brothers met their next addition.

* * *

"Oo-aniki?"

Bankotsu looked up from thoughts, Banryuu slung over his unarmored shoulder loosely. The youngest's weapon of choice was one of alarming size, often mistaken for a halberd, but in the youngest's defense, the only thing that his aibou had in common with a halberd was that they were pole-wielding weaponry. Instead of a battle axe, Banryuu resembled a large double edged sword, the pommel a large, crescent moon. But unlike his brothers' favored weapons of choice, his was a demonic blade, many warning him to forgo his companion blade but they did not understand.

It was with this blade that he had slewed those that were in his way. And it was with this blade that he would continue to do so.

"Hmm?" The leader hummed distractedly, turning to find his second-in-command, or otherwise known as his third-eldest brother; Renkotsu. Clearly having just came home from work, the bald twenty-four-year-old regarded with his youngest brother with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you alright, oo-aniki? You seem a bit distracted." Renkotsu noted, as he made a mental note to improve the level for the youngest, glancing at the ease the boy tore through one of harder levels of the simulation.

"It's nothing." Bankotsu shrugged, before smirking. "What's wrong, Renkotsu?"

"The new requests have come, oo-aniki."

"Oh, I see." Bankotsu nodded, in his commanding voice before smirking with a good-natured smirk. "Are the others home yet? I was thinking in putting in some training in. My math teacher wasn't being a bitch today, for once. No homework."

Renkotsu rose an eyebrow at that. "Why? I thought you said that she was out to get you, oo-aniki?"

"Beats me." Bankotsu shrugged. "Maybe she got laid."

"I wouldn't know, oo-aniki." Dropping the topic before it got anymore odder, Renkotsu sent a small shrug to the leader's earlier unanswered question. "And about the others; Mukotsu is upstairs, finishing up some papers; Suikotsu won't be home for another good hour from the hospital; Jakotsu's in class and it ends in another forty minutes; Kyokotsu should be back by now from work; and Ginkotsu too, from the shop."

"Good." Bankotsu noted as he lit up the main computer screen in the desolate room that contained nothing but white walls and a near invisible exit and entrance, his voice switching to a commanding one immediately. "When everyone is home and fed, inform the others to meet me here. Place the new requests in my quarters, I will look them over after I'm done here."

"Yes, oo-aniki." Renkotsu nodded as he left, taking the folder of requests with him. Alone once more, the leader pressed a neon green button, his voice resonating in the room as he spoke. "Unlock."

"Leader of Shichinintai, Bankotsu-sama; acknowledged." A robotic voice echoed as the addressed boy replied.

"Begin Simulation A87-8."

"Acknowledged." The voice responded. "Simulation A87-8, starting."

With a hum, the screen disappeared as the boy smirked, dodging a thin burst of power with a fluid jump, noting at the appearance of faux robotic drones shaped like soldiers wielding blades.

"Star Wars, much; Renkotsu?" Bankotsu smirked, before adding an afterthought. "But then again, I did say how I liked the light-sabers in movies."

Slicing open one of the drones, ruby oil splattered the floor as the boy smirked wider at the sight, the liquid too dark to be blood but convincing enough at the glance. _Thanks, Renkotsu._

* * *

And that was not the only thing that the leader had thanked his second-in-command for. And it was certainly wasn't going to be the last. Even though they had several head-butts in the past, the young Bankotsu proved himself to be the older man's superior, signifying that he was the leader for a reason.

It was when the two had first met.

After the mysterious disappearances of the children who were found freshly buried behind the house, the caretaker was blamed for the deaths as an overwhelming amount evidence was found on the scene, refusing to cooperate in finding the remaining two boys who were not found at the dump site, buried in the back of the house. That is until a soft tapping took a female investigator from her task, following the sound. Coming to a thin wall in the side of the house, the investigator quickly called for assistance. Breaking open the wall, the officers bore expressions of pity as they found the two boys, their clothes bloodied with their own blood, clearly beaten, the older one hugging the younger as if to shield him. Underfed and orbs dulled with fatigue and hunger, the boys had only a blanket to shield themselves, immediately going to police custody.

Once given a good night's sleep, a hearty meal at the station, and a visit from the hospital; the two were questioned together, none having the heart tear the two apart from the way they clung to one another. After concluding the boys as survivors of the ordeal, the boys were sent to a temple to reside for a while until child services took over.

Bankotsu blinked his large cobalt orbs innocently, his thoughts much darker than his expression as he watched with disguised mirth as his caretaker was dragged away from the interrogation room, stifling a snort behind his fingers as the vile woman spat curses at him and Jakotsu. Disguising a snicker for a snort, the boy clung closer to the older boy, who hugged him tighter, only to disguise a smirk that the younger mirrored, as if sharing an inside joke. _Stupid bitch had it coming._

"Boys," The kind investigator who found them smiled sadly as the addressed brothers looked up at the woman, masks back on as they huddled a little closer. "The head monk from the monastery has come to pick you up."

The head monk was a stern bald man in dark blue robes, a white pearled rosary in his hands as he spoke to the officer, a wrinkled brow risen. By the man's side was a young man, barely out of his childhood. His head was clean shaven, robes of a common monk, an indigo blue; he had kind and soothing eyes of a monk. But Bankotsu was not fooled.

He had seen those eyes before, it was the ones he currently wore. Tempered and tinted with an illusion so that others could not see the bloodlust within the windows of their souls.

 _Interesting._ Bankotsu thought. _To think he thought only he and Jakotsu had a lust for blood. Apparently not._

"I am the Head Monk." The said person introduced himself with a gruff voice before gesturing to his company. "And this is my apprentice, Hibiki."

"Hello." Jakotsu greeted timidly, as the boys introduced themselves in turn.

Nodding at the substantial manners, the Head Monk led the boys to their temporary home. It was well into a month until the boys noticed something strange of the home that they were pushed into. The dirt was always fertile, the air almost too clean even for a place of spiritual worship; the skeleton was buried deep in this place. But where?

It was only later that Bankotsu had found it to be literal.

Dashing down the stairs from behind the golden Buddha, not bothering to pay the respects as the monks had instructed him to, Bankotsu merely scoffed it the golden statue before he continued in his mad run, when he heard a bellowing voice, making the boy pause in his stride.

"How dare you!"

Once sure that the threat was not pointed to him, the braided boy followed the voice, silently tiptoeing toward the voices. "Do you have any idea what you have done, Hibiki?"

 _Hibiki?_ The boy thought, flinging his shoulder length braid away from his face, narrowing his cobalt orbs with curiosity as he listened in, an idea coming to mind as he sported a smirk.

"I have tolerated this behavior for the last time, Hibiki!" The Head Monk from what Bankotsu recognized. "Just what is that compels you to set alight others and things for your own amusement? You are committed to a life free of temptation; not to take life and bow to temptation!"

With a huff, the Head Monk stomped off, executing his punishment as he left. "You are to kneel there and repent! Repent upon the sins you have committed and why you are to repent! You are to not move until I give you the explicit order to do so!"

Hiding with a series of leaps to the wooden beams above, the braided boy watched with a thin smirk, recalling all the times he had to do the same for more than one things he had done against the Head Monk. The man was too strung up in his opinion always appearing as if he had something stuck up his ass. Sure that the man was gone, the boy landed softly, revealing himself to the seven-years-old boy, who knelt obediently before the zen garden, bright eyes defiant.

"Hello." Bankotsu greeted with a smirk. "Do you remember me?"

The bald older glared angrily, snapping as he spoke through gritted teeth, spitting at the end. "No, I don't. And as you can see, I am currently being punished."

"Pity." The braided boy replied, before dropping his smirk with an arrogant smile. "And for a moment, I thought you were actually one of us, Hibiki. Well, it seems like I was mistaken. I will not disturb your repentance."

Turning away with a lackadaisical shrug, the braided boy only made two steps when his bait was bitten. "One of _you_?"

"Bloodlust, Hibiki." Bankotsu elaborated, turning back with a soft step. "Those who cherish the way warm blood flows from the corpse in rivers as the life in a person leaves it. Me and my brother, we take pleasure in taking such measures to watch and perform it with gusto."

"To kill?" Hibiki breathed, before it hitched. "But that is a mortal sin! I am a monk of the solitary life, committed to living without falling to my temptations! I cannot allow myself to fall to weakness! Buddha does not allow us to befall to such in his teachings!"

To the bald older's surprise, the young boy shrugged. "Buddha, or not. It _is_ your life, is it not; Hibiki? Why should anyone or Buddha for that matter, decide upon _your_ fate? Why not take on what _you_ wish to do? Or do _you_ merely wish to continue to live as an echo with the monastery?"

"And who are you to accuse me of befalling weakness?" The braided boy argued. "You have befallen into the pits of temptation long before my arrival. Why not allow the temptation to overwhelm yourself, and fulfill it? Why ignore the calls of bloodlust, when you have already heeded once? Once you have started, you should finish it. Leaving things unfinished, is that the way of Buddha?"

The bald boy was silent. _What should he do? Defy his master and escape with these two boys? But where would they go then? And of poor Usui, the only friend he had ever had? What would they say if they saw him? How would they escape if they were going to do so? And if I did and Usui came as well, how will the three of us survive?_

"You fool." Hibiki spat at the boy who rose an eyebrow at the bombardment of questions. "How would you allow us to escape from this place with just the three of us? When there are only ten days until you and your brother are going to be gone with the child services?"

"Leave that to me. Concern yourself of whether you will join me and my brother." Bankotsu smirked as he smacked his fist on his other hand as if he had forgotten, speaking to the older boy who was currently at his eye level. "By the way, your friend can come too."

"W-What?" The much older boy looked up at the boy with widened orbs.

"Jakotsu and I have seen you two talking at night, when you sneak out. He's quiet but he seems nice, helping you disposing of the bodies by burying them in the gardens. The bloodlust in him is just as thirsty as yours." Bankotsu smirked as he left a flabbergasted boy behind, needing to attend to much consideration.

It was late into the sixth night that Bankotsu received an answer.

Propped on the outspread futon, Jakotsu unclipped the butterfly pin with a smile of mirth, clipping the pin to his white hakama when the doors opened with a slide, revealing a long-haired Bankotsu, his ebony locks wet from the shower.

"Bankotsu oo-aniki!" Jakotsu chirped as Bankotsu rose an eyebrow, questioning as his brother pouted, whining as the younger joined the older on the floor. "How much longer do we have to stay here? I thought you said that we would be leaving soon?"

"That depends if Hibiki has come to a decision yet, Ja." The younger replied with a thin smirk, as a knock sounded. "Speak of the devil."

"Enter." Bankotsu obliged as the two ebony-haired boys found themselves with company as Hibiki and a much older man enter, his appearance disfigured. With a deep breath, the bald teen turned to the youngest long-haired boy, who sported a full smirk.

"So, what's the plan?"


	3. Mischievous Poisons

Chapter 3: Mischievous Poisons

Tearing the request with a smirk, the leader glanced at his unfinished homework, doing it half-heartedly despite knowing all of the answers. Too smart, they would notice, but too stupid, they would also notice. Therefore, smart with just the right amount of stupidity.

"Oo-aniki?" Rang from the room as the leader answered, eyes still on his homework, the lead pencil scribbling without pause.

"It's open, come in."

Permission received, Renkotsu entered, donned in his training robes, just like the leader, armor and all strapped on. Pointing to the pile to his right, Bankotsu spoke with his authoritative voice, pencil pointed as he looked over the biology questions with a scan, making sure that the ones that were suppose to be wrong were so, and the right with the same respectively.

"These are acceptable requests with our schedules. Give the others a copy of each with the general information for each a week before, so we prepare for them beforehand. The others, I disposed of." The leader ordered, as he looked up at his second-in-command who looked over the list for a moment before nodding, as it was to his expectations. "Are the others downstairs?"

"Yes, oo-aniki." The bald man nodded as the leader exited the room, the older following. "The others have assembled as you have ordered. I think this is a good idea, oo-aniki. For us to work on our formation that is."

"For our next hit?" Bankotsu guessed, the older nodding.

"Yes." Renkotsu nodded, elaborating. "It is an order from a world leader, who has requested to be an anonymity, willing to pay three times our minimum price. They requested assistance in the civil war that is currently uprooting in their nation."

"Which?" Bankotsu supplied, as the two walked toward the hidden elevator.

"Russia, oo-aniki." Renkotsu replied, handing the youngest a tablet.

Flipping through it with a calloused finger, the boy smirked, as he scanned the details, apparently, they were to assist in the communist side. The money that they had to have gathered must have been their every cent. Not like it was their's to begin with anyway. Thoughts trailing to the past once more, the leader recalled the beginning of the chaotic era they currently dwelled in.

* * *

Ever since the disappearance nuclear weaponry from all that possessed it, the nations were scurrying in search for a replacement of mass destruction and found it: humans themselves. Which nation had the best of the best, and had the capabilities to over the others without weapons of mass destruction. Any weaponry that was developed past the feudal times was obsolete, the most recent weaponry available being the 18th century cannon, bayonets, and simple one-shot rifles. Every other technological invention in regards of military weaponry, other than the internet, was forgone.

Seriously underdeveloped militarily, the nations left the fighting to those who did it all their lives: assassins and mercenaries.

But none was more feared and more efficient than Shichinintai, The Seven Man Army; or the Band of Seven. Rumored to and could, the seven did the work of a hundred men, their hits and raids savage and cruel but the job never failed to be done. And that was what made them the best. The seven had a minimum price in gold, not trusting in currencies for exchanges, and communicated through messengers and the most secure of email and phone calls.

None have ever seen the seven, other than their number and the signature that they were infamous for, from their earliest exploits to their most recent rampage. The mark of seven.

And it was that, that the officers currently saw before them.

In the center of the seven markings was a four-pointed cross, almost star-like in shape. However, the star was not one that others wished upon for their saving starlight. It was the star that symbolized the death and bloodshed that it left such unholy destruction in it's wake as it traveled over the skies of the world, knowing no pause or stop in it's madness.

To the left of the center, was a pair of fangs, bared and ready to inject their dripping venom into their prey. Lithe and silent, the fangs portrayed the illusion that the men may be outnumbered in amount but it made no indication of their power, striking when the time is correct for them and once they had their fangs out, the prey was already dead before them.

In the opposite side, glared a pair of what appeared to be two tendrils of flames with a small dragon head in the center, the beast best known for it's mythological power and mastery of the flames. Rather than being a creature of wisdom and age, the dragon in the blood was cruel and bore no compassion for the weak, only spitting fire and destruction in it's wake.

Beside the fangs, was curled ribbons, thick then thin until they disappeared, four in total, harmless at first glance but the ribbons were filled with deception. Like the one who bore them, the ribbons would tighten with deathly grip or loosely do so with morose inches to the gates; dependent on the master's choosing in fatal poisons.

Opposing the ribbons was six daggers, all pointed within themselves as the points dripped blood with sadistic pleasure. Angry, the points introvert as if to hurt even the wielder, and all those around him without whim or mind, not that it was hard to gauge from the slaughter below.

Finally, bracketing the other five was two other markings.

On the far right, was a sole marking, resembling a circular razor blade, the blade was empty within, as if to signify the emptiness of it's relation to anyone. However, shifted to the side of attacking the front, the emptiness was filled with contentment as the blade had something to fight for and with the lust which the blade called upon, it was yet to begin to be sated.

Lastly on the far left, was a sole marking dripping with the fresh blood that the others too had been painted with. Pointed toward the others, the marking resembled a dart, a small protruding indent out the main body. But it was oddly thrown. As if to maximize pain and indent torture, it was no killing blow.

 _Then why?_

As if to answer the question, a pale-faced crime scene forensic broke the silence.

"Officers?" She said, as every head turned to her. "I-It appears that some —er, — parts, of the bodies of the workers in the ground floor are missing."

"W-What?" The newbie whispered.

"Pieces, such as the torso, limbs, and even some heads. Gone." She reported, looking almost sick from just the recall itself.

"Post-mortem, right?" One officer asked, as he received silence in answer.

"And the second floor victims?" The senior officer ordered after the quiet, his face sickened with concealed horror. "What of them?"

"T-The body parts were all dead within the same time frame, but the sole man seemed to die several moments before, each cut including, the b-beheading, when he was still alive." She stuttered, flipping the paper.

"Good God." The newbie whispered.

"And the third?" The pretty little thing questioned, before the senior officer waved her off, not having the heart to allow his men to hear anymore of this devilry, when her voice ran out once more.

"More," She paused in thought as weary gazes turned to her once more.

"Bodies?" Another pause. "Have been found down below."

"Lead the way. Men, you are to be on guard search for any survivors, move out!" The senior officer bellowed, as he gestured his men below, leaving the fourth floor as the newbie neared the woman who wore a troubled look.

"What's wrong?" The young man asked, catching up to her.

Exiting the elevator, the newbie found his answer. Blood and white foam that was thought to be only found in movies, covered the white tiles as bodies swam like lilies in the red sea. Glinting as if to greeting the officers of their discovery, emptied syringes smiled as if to say, what survivors?

 _Just what kind of humans were they?_

* * *

They were humans, of course. And as humans, they were unpredictable.

And that's exactly what it is one is suppose to expect. Just as Bankotsu did when he found Hibiki and Usui before him, the latter, a young man who once may have been a strong man of confidence. But half of his body was horrendously disfigured, short orange hair splayed as the disfigured half was covered with metal, body rebuilt from many parts and shaped to fit his humanoid form. Both of them were dressed in ebony robes that blended well into the night as the bald teen turned to the braided boy.

"What's the plan?" Hibiki snapped, his eyes cold. "We don't have a lot of time to make our escape."

Nodding with a grunt, the braided boy turned away from the two, nodding to Jakotsu. "Looks like we're going to leave sooner than you think, get everything ready, Jakotsu."

"Yes, oo-aniki." Jakotsu chirped, bounding up as he packed several things.

"Now then," Bankotsu smirked as he turned back to the two, handing them a thin bag filled with ebony charcoal. "Let's start."

* * *

The Head Monk knelt in the silent moonlight, rosary in his praying hands as he allowed his mind to seek peace, the golden Buddha before him smiling in content at his loyal follower. Soft footsteps colored silence as the aged monk remained unmoved, well aware that his apprentice had arrived.

Seating himself beside his master, the young teen kept to his silence.

"Where were you at such a late hour?"

The boy made no answer to such a question but instead voiced one.

"Why do we pray to the Buddha?"

Surprised at the question, the Head Monk was silent before he answered, deciding to put off his question. "To seek out salvation and enlightenment; so that we could once more be reincarnated into humans to continue our worship of serving Buddha."

A soft chuckle. Opening his eyes, the Head Monk found not only his apprentice. By his side was a much older boy and Bankotsu, the young boy that the nuns favored for his cherub-like looks. And there was nothing cherub-like in them no longer. Instead, in the orbs of the children before him was filled with unsatisfied blood lust; none less thirst filled than the other.

"Now that I hear it again, I realize how foolish I was." Hibiki scoffed scathingly as he neared his former master. "To believe that my so-called 'sins' were 'forgiven' and that I would be reincarnated into a human once more. What a joke."

"Hibiki." The Head Monk accused with anger lacing his voice. "What is the meaning of this? Do you have any idea what you are doing and before whom you are doing this before?!"

"I am well aware!" Hibiki shot back, almost hysterically as the Head Monk widened his orbs at the teen's words; Bankotsu watching beside Usui with a cold, almost morose expression. "It is before the deceitful bastard that took me from the home where I could have saved my best friend from his accident! But instead, you lied to me! And told me that he was dead!"

"When in actuality," Hibiki bellowed with a anguish-filled cry, as he turned to Usui, who looked away almost shamefully; as the Head Monk froze at his apprentice's words. "He was alive, with half of his body blown to bits!"

"U-Usui?" The Head Monk called out with a whisper as the man lifted his hood, revealing his half-mechanical face, the jaw replaced with a metal one, into the moonlight.

"Gesh." Usui spoke. "H-Hello, Father."

Before the Head Monk spoke, Hibiki cut in, soft tears running down his face. "Don't you _fucking_ dare."

"You have no right to call him that. He is not your son and neither was I. I thought that I could have closed up the pain when I believed he was dead, but one day, Usui found me. I was so terrified that I thought I had passed into the land of the dead. But, only to find that you killed him!" Hibiki raged as the Head Monk fell to his knees, eyes no longer seeing. "You were unable to see that your son was going to join the wars, so you decided that since he was so easily going to die, might as well die now! And then you had the _fucking_ audacity to take me in from the orphanage after you set it alight."

"Don't you _fucking_ dare." Hibiki cried as he too fell to his knees, in tears; Usui nearing with a helping hand. After a short moment, the bald teen recalled his composure, brushing aside the assistance with a soft push.

"I'm fine."

Understanding the implications of that, Usui nodded, brushing aside a stray tear from his single orb. "Gesh, Renkotsu no aniki."

Smiling softly at the newly chosen name, Renkotsu nodded. "And the same to you, Ginkotsu."

"Renkotsu. Ginkotsu."

All turning to the youngest boy, who regarded them with a solemn look that looked too old for his age; cobalt orbs glaring, lips pulled to a soft frown, and his braid dangling with a mischievous twinkle; the boy smirked as spoke. "The authorities should be arriving soon. We are on a time schedule."

"Make it quick." The boy smiled, his dimple indicating anything but what he said. And with a fluid leap, the boy was gone.

"Thank you, oo-aniki." Renkotsu whispered, as the former apprentice turned to his former master, fear coursing through the old man's veins as the teen spoke.

"I seem to recall, that you asked why I burned those animals. Allow me to _enlighten_ you."

* * *

Shukaku kept his head down as he trudged down the hall of the mediocre hospital he worked at, his face considered too horrendous for others to consider him to be their physician. Sighing once more at the curse that was his appearance, he entered his work space, a research room working with making antidotes and anti-venoms for the hospitals.

 _Why was he consolidated to this meager work? When he could be doing so much more than manufacturing solutions for those handsome and young doctors to receive all the credit for his work?_

It was all because of his _face_.

Because he looked like _this_. It was not like he chose to look like _this_. It was just the way he was born. Even though his work was brilliant, they said, his _face_ and _appearance_ would bring in more problems than the credibility his work would ever do. Resigning himself to the night of mindless work, the fifty-four year old man was on his way to get a coffee when the burst of the doors from entrance to emergency wing, a handsome doctor was waving others away as he helped the nurses push a stretcher through, his face contorted until a desperate one that all in his profession recognized and hated to wear.

A child. One that was on the verge of dying.

 _Naoto._ If Shukaku recalled correctly, the most recent addition of the pediatrics from the mainland. Young and handsome, he was one of the most coveted of the staff, especially the ladies. Growling in envy, the short man shook the thought away, instead taking interest to the child.

Tan skin pale, the boy was no more than eleven years old. Thin and small for his age, cobalt orbs darted almost lazily as the boy breathed laboriously into the oxygen mask over his small face. Minor burns covered the boy's exposed flesh, his once white hakama, now an ashen grey. Soft ebony bangs framed his face as he breathed, the ends finishing at a small loosened black braid.

 _The boy would be a looker if he survived._ Shukaku thought as he made away only to have the handsome doctor gesture him over. Pointing to himself to receive a nod in response, the researcher ran over as fast as his legs were able, his eye-like eyes questioning.

"You are Dr. Shukaku of the Toxicology Department, correct?"

"Yes." The said person replied, albeit cautious.

Gesturing to the boy, Naoto spoke quickly. "We are understaffed tonight and a fire has broken out in the monastery nearby, can you take over this boy for me?"

A quick nod received, the taller gave out vitals immediately. "His vitals are normal with some expected off-scale proportions, but we feared that he has inhaled too much carbon monoxide, so go over the normal procedures and see if he has any symptoms of poisoning." And with that, the handsome doctor was off, a nurse following him as one stayed.

Glancing at the boy who now stared at him weakly, the researcher turned to the nurse. "You heard him. Let's go!"

And off they came to the ER wing, settling on the farthest corner of the wing.

Administering a thin syringe with the standard, Shukaku rose an eyebrow as the boy made no indication of feeling the needle entering his arm, nor the fear in his eyes from the sight of a tubing. Brushing aside the boy as brave, the man went to work on the things he had dreamed to take part in, the nurse bandaging his minor burns before he dismissed her, her disgust of his appearance disguised poorly.

 _BPM, normal, although slightly high. BP, normal. Complexion, pale but color was returning. Oxygen intake, two notches above normal. Temperature, slightly high. But considering the boy was just in a fire, it was normal._

Seating himself by the boy for a moment to rest, Shukaku turned to his charge, only to find with surprise, bright cobalt eyes staring back at him. Colored with intrigue and mirth, the boy smirked at him, as if he knew something that he didn't. Blinking, the middle-aged man stared back at the boy, until the boy gestured to a nod to something behind him. Turning to the object, the man found it to be a curtain. As if compelled by an invisible force, Shukaku found himself alone with the boy, who was smiling softly as a curtain contained the two, ensuing privacy.

Lifting the mask slightly, the boy cocked his head with a small smirk.

"Who are you?" His voice was light and child-like yet alluringly commanding even through the breathing mask.

"I am Dr. Shukaku, a researcher of the Toxicology Department in this hospital." The said person introduced himself, seating himself once more. "And you, child?"

"I am Bankotsu, or otherwise known as oo-aniki to my brothers." The boy introduced himself. "I won't suppose you have seen them?"

"Are they younger than you?" Receiving a shake in response, the researcher tried again, doubt alining his words. "Older?"

"Very." Bankotsu replied, making the older raise an eyebrow as the boy elaborated with a slight smile. "One is four years older, the others, seven and thirteen. We are a rather mixed up group, now that I think about it."

Seeing the man's surprised expression, the boy shook his head.

"We're not biologically related." Bankotsu deadpanned as his voice grew dark. "But rather, we are related in our lust for blood."

"What?" Shukaku whispered, his bug-like eyes surprised as the boy smirked darkly behind his mask, the breathing machine's whirring ignored.

"Yes, something you share, don't you; Doctor?" The boy all but interrogated with a smile. "And from what you have told me, your victims have no idea that they were poisoned. And that you watched them, slowly until they died, choking and having no idea it was all because of you."

"How did you—?"

But the child merely continued. "And nothing too flashy, of course. That would be too obvious, right; Doctor?"

The doctor was silent before he pointed a clear, filled syringe at the boy; ready to enter with the flick of a wrist into the boy's IV. Black beady orbs glared into amused cobalt ones as the doctor hissed at the boy.

"Just what is it that you want from me, boy?"

"To join me and my brothers." The said boy replied without hesitation, smirk growing with every word. "To allow others like us, who relish the thrill of watching life leave the eyes of the weak and kill without bounds to do so. And to do as I please without the need to worry about anything superficial like appearances, or anything of the fickle sort."

Syringe lowered, the doctor hesitated before he spoke once more. "And if I refuse?"

"Will I kill you?" Bankotsu shot, still amused as he shook his head. "No. You are free to choose as you please, I will not force you if you do not want to uptake me in my offer."

As if to symbolize the cease of their current dealings, the curtain was ripped open to reveal three males, all ranging the ages of the boy's brothers, which the researcher looked over with a keen eye. The youngest who appeared to be the most concerned, was donned in an ashen hakama as well, slightly pale but his hair bun mussed as a blue butterfly pin held it in place. Minor bandages covered his exposed flesh as well, faring better than the braided boy by his side, but what caught the researcher's eyes were his painted lips, a bright red. _How odd. Was this what Bankotsu was referring to when he said appearances?_

The middle was a young monk who too escaped with little burns, minor but no worse than the other two as he wore a concerned look at the boy, dressed in singed ebony monk robes. He appeared kind enough to bypass suspicion, and if the boy had not informed him that the brothers were blood lustful like himself, he wouldn't have seen it. _The blood thirst that they all embraced_. The eldest however, was an enigma, as his clothing of thin ebony robes covered his person as if to conceal, a hood covering half of his face. The half, he could see though, revealed a worried orb and short, coarse orange locks.

"Oo-aniki!" The hair-pinned one cried as he neared the boy, the younger one smiling behind the mask. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Ja." The youngest smirked with mirth, before letting out a series of coughs into the breathing mask, smiling sheepishly at the pointed looks he was given when he recovered. "Or maybe not."

"No, you're not; young man." A kind voice insisted in almost a whimsical nature, as Shukaku and the brothers turned to see Naoto, followed by three interns. "Looking at your charts that my nurse has done, you are going to be kept here for a night, just as a precautionary, for oxygen depletion."

"Nurse?" Shukaku questioned, his eyes confused as the brothers shot glances to the youngest who merely sent a glance back, as if to say, just watch; the conversation continuing. "The nurse that you sent with me left an hour ago. I was the one who filled out the charts and checked the boy's vitals!"

In the midst of the conversation, Bankotsu smirked ever so slightly as he turned to his brothers, winking before his cobalt orbs fell back into his skull; his small body stilled.

Jakotsu was about to spring forward when his newly joined brother, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu, pulled him back, the former of the two whispering to the second-youngest. "Oo-aniki is planning something, so act accordingly."

Nodding, the second youngest awaited, although bitingly.

"What are you talking about?" Naoto shot back confusedly, before gripping his clipboard with annoyance. "I merely asked you to accompany my nurse. Not to do the charts! You are stepping out of line! How dare you, a mere researcher, try to take responsibility a physician does!"

"Dr. Naoto!" An intern of soft and kind features, cut in, his eyes pointed to the patient they were arguing over. "The boy!"

All turning to the boy, eyes widened immediately.

The small braided boy was no longer awake but, unconscious as his body shook. Convulsed in a spasm, the boy was in a seizure, his limbs twisting and bending in violent directions. Moving to hold the boy down, the intern yelled at the shocked physicians around him, snapping them out of their stupors.

 _The carbon monoxide!_ Shukaku thought, as he knelt to increase the oxygen dosages, adding a asthmatic solution for better breathing. _He wasn't taking in enough oxygen to replace it, and he was talking to me; making the amount even less than what was deemed safe! Of course, he started to have convulsions! Dammit!_

 _You'd better not die!_ The researcher thought as he closed the nozzle. _You can't! When you, didn't even notice how ugly I was, only my work…_

"Bankotsu!" Jakotsu cried as he dove for his brother, the other two holding him back with a surprised glance at the boy's strength.

"Get the family outside!" Naoto yelled as his eyes shifted from the intern to the researcher madly, his other two interns watching still frozen. _Goddammit. Nothing was going right._

* * *

On the contrary, as Bankotsu awoke, all was going well.

Noting his white hospital gown, the eleven-year-old took in his surroundings quickly, noting the moonlight filtering in with a soft glow. With a tube under his nostrils, an IV in his arm, a heart monitor over his chest, and bandages over his minor burns; nothing was out of place. Slumped in chairs in a row, seated his brothers in chronological order; all asleep.

"You're awake."

"Yes." Bankotsu answered, his voice slightly hoarse but otherwise fine as the boy shifted his sheets over his frame, propping the pillows for him to face the researcher who had seated himself to his left, nearest to the door, his brothers in the other side.

"You had a seizure from the carbon monoxide in the fire." The researcher supplied bluntly, before continuing, most definitely confused. "You are stable now, and should be able to leave by tomorrow morning as Naoto would want to watch you overnight in case of a relapse."

"Don't you mean you wanted that, Doctor?" Bankotsu inquired with a shrug at the man's dumbfounded expression. "You are correct, that I had a seizure, but it was intentional."

"What?" Shukaku whispered.

"What?" Bankotsu echoed with a smirk. "Once I heard that physician speak to you, it was obvious that, that doctor was planning to take the credit for assisting me. And being the 'helpless' patient, I couldn't insist that you were actually the one who did so. They would have insisted that I was delusional. So, I held my breath, building the carbon monoxide as I took in less oxygen until I passed out."

"Y-You did that for me?"

Bankotsu shrugged. "I was going to be kept overnight anyway. So might as well make it a bit exciting."

 _This boy._ Shukaku thought. _Placed his health and well-being in risk just to help him. A stranger that he barely knew, just because he was just like him, who loved the thrill and the lustful pleasure that bloodshed gave them. Why? Why would he?_

"Why would I go to such extents for you?" Bankotsu worded out loud as the man found the little boy turn to him with a child-like smirk, cobalt orbs twinkling with mischief.

"Because I want to." And that was all the reason he needed.


	4. Cinquante-Huit Neuf

Chapter 4: Cinquante-Huit — Neuf

"Mukotsu?"

"Yes, oo-aniki."

"Huh." Bankotsu huffed with a small pout thoughtfully as Jakotsu tied his braid for him, barely brushing his shoulders; all of his brothers in his hospital room. Turning to the butterfly-pinned boy, making the latter mess up; as the youngest cried after a solid minute.

"Mou, oo-aniki! You messed up your hair!"

Brushing that aside as if it were irrelevant at the moment, the boy looked at the older boy with an indignant pout.

"Ow!" Bankotsu yelped with a cry, making Renkotsu flinch from helping Ginkotsu fix his robes after revealing themselves awake during oo-aniki's and the newly joined Mukotsu's conversation. "Jakotsu! That hurt!"

"Well if you didn't move, Oo-aniki, it wouldn't hurt." Jakotsu snapped as he turned the smaller boy around, facing the other three. "Now, sit still!"

"Fine." The youngest huffed as Renkotsu addressed another matter.

"Oo-aniki."

"Hmm?" The little boy hummed, his cobalt eyes giving the bald former monk his full attention.

"Don't you think using our new names as a band of brothers, an obvious linkage in which forces in the future can track us with, oo-aniki?" Renkotsu inquired, his eyes furrowed in thought. "Even though we currently reside in the outskirts, the mainland is still in the world stage of the world wars, it will be troublesome if they link our names when we join the world stage."

After a short silence, a smirk played on the boy's lips as he answered.

"Killing for a price and not a high one, at that." The boy replied, going off in the tangent towards murder rather than the initial. "I think I would take up on that. To kill as many people I want for living, and to do so with opportunity of as many as possible. Now, that excites me."

"To war then, oo-aniki?" Renkotsu questioned with a risen eyebrow, not surprised by their leader's tangent. "Jakotsu had remarked that you refused to take up the orders of generals and military of any sort for that matter?"

"And I wouldn't." The boy refused immediately, lips contorted to a near snarl. "I will not take orders from an arrogant politician's brat or otherwise. And I don't think any of you would be too keen as to be taking orders other than from the others."

Nods and grunts were sounded as Renkotsu worded his, finished with helping Ginkotsu with a satisfied nod.

"Agreed, oo-aniki." As he pointed out another flaw. "But how will we get there then?"

"We do as we please, Renkotsu." Bankotsu shot back with a smirk, as Jakotsu finished with his hair, satisfied. "With the wars going on, I think the nations of the world stage would not be too picky in people to do the dirty work for them."

Smirking as if knowing the implication the boy made, the bald teen nodded, before sighing. "Well, then. I suppose we can make do until then; but for now as a temporary fix, our brotherly attained names will only be spoke in the company of ourselves in private, but would otherwise, call each other by birth names; other than oo-aniki."

"What about Jakotsu?" The leader noted, as the older male pouted for a moment, fixing his hair bun, clipping the pin with a soft click.

"What about Ja?" The addressed boy suggested, turning to the 'eldest brother'. "You already called me that in front of the doctors, a couple of hours ago."

"That should suffice for now." Renkotsu amended, not wanting anymore time to be wasted with the topic. Wanting to discuss another, the bald teen turned to their leader, who propped himself on his bed, tubes still attached to him.

"Oo-aniki."

"You may go, Hibiki." Bankotsu waved with a smirk at the bald teen's surprised look. "Whatever it is you are going to do, I know you will do it with the rest of us in mind. Take Usui and Ja with you. Shukaku, you are to remain here to assist me with something else."

Smiling with mirth at the youngest, Renkotsu nodded, with Jakotsu waving bye with a smile and Ginkotsu smiling ever so softly with a soft 'gesh'.

"Yes, oo-aniki."

And they were gone.

Turning to the younger, the eldest of the current five smirked as the boy before him fell back on pillows with arms behind his head, relaxed. "Just what in the world did I get myself into?"

"You tell me, Shukaku." Bankotsu smirked, behind lidded orbs. "You tell me."

* * *

The intern sighed as he entered one of the many lounges in the hospital, just been given a scolding for his poor performance earlier. It was not his fault that he could not stand the sight of blood. But not for the reasoning that you would think. Rather, it excited him. Like the scent of fresh blood to a vampire, his own blood rushed with adrenaline at the sight of the crimson, his body calling with every cell to reveal more.

 **You foolish doctor… You can't hide your want to kill… You can't seal me away anymore… I am you, and you are me… whether me or you like it or not…**

 _No. He. Must. Keep. Him. Away._ Turning back to his thoughts, the doctor continued his morose soliloquy.

His cohorts made snide comments themselves, like why would he choose this profession if he feared blood? How foolish of him. Even though he appeared to be a competent doctor in every other aspect.

 **Don't be fucking with yourself, saint doctor.**

Rubbing his hands with a small fit, the intern held back another sigh; when the door opened. Expecting his superior, the young man turned to the door, only to find a walking Bankotsu, pale but considerably better from the previous night. The boy was still in his hospital gown, hair tied back into a simple braid as he stood with his IV stand next to him. **Pretty kid. Wait. Isn't he the one from last night? I thought he died. Are you ignoring me, Yamato?**

"Hello." The eleven-year-old smiled innocently as the intern returned it with a small one, exchanging a greeting as he ignored the latter of his thoughts. "Who are you?" **The devil, kid. Fine. I'll talk to myself. Screw you.**

"Hello, Bankotsu. I am Dr. Yamato." **You mean, Dr. Shibou.**

"Was I disturbing you?" Bankotsu noted politely as the intern shook his head. "Then what were doing in here, Doctor? Where is Dr. Naoto?"

"He is… currently…preoccupied." **You mean, fucking.**

Yamato tried, sure that if the child was told that the doctor was 'playing' with the two other female interns was not appropriate, the blood on his hands forgotten, opting to change the topic. "Where are your older brothers?"

"Around." Bankotsu shrugged. He had sent Mukotsu back to his research room, promising that this was the last night that the man would work there. That is if his most recent addition to the brotherhood was a correct one. Well, more like to-be addition. Turning back to it, the boy smirked.

"And they're not my older brothers."

"Oh." Yamato frowned as he thought back. _But I clearly saw that they called one another by 'aniki' and regard one another as if they were. Was Bankotsu a son or nephew of one of them?_ **A plaything?**

Voicing his thoughts with the exception of the last one, the intern found an amused smile as his answer. _Wrong, not a son or nephew._ **See! Maybe I was right.**

Before the doctor could inquire more, the boy gave him the answer. "They're my little brothers. Even though they are biologically and chronologically older than me, they call me; oo-aniki." **Damn.**

 _That's right._ The doctor recalled. _The one with a butterfly pin in his hair. He called Bankotsu 'oo-aniki'._ **Okay, we established that. So what?**

"Why?" The doctor asked before he could stop himself, scolding himself for intruding on others' businesses. "I'm sorry, Bankotsu. I didn't mean —." **Why are you apologizing? I wanted to know too.**

"It's no trouble." Bankotsu smiled, cobalt orbs glinted with a mischievous glow. "They all call me oo-aniki, because I was the one who offered them to join me, because they all had something I had in common."

"And what was that?" The doctor inquired with a soft smile, happy for the boy. **I'm not. I can careless for the brat.**

"The love and thrill to kill." _…W-What?_ **…Never mind. I like this kid.**

The doctor froze as he looked at the boy with bewildered eyes, unchanged cobalt orbs glaring back into his, still thoroughly amused as if he were playing a lovely game. "To see the blood drip off my weak victims as they beg, oh so beautifully. Wouldn't you agree, Doctor?" **Okay. Now I** ** _really_** **like this kid.**

 _W-What? What was B-Bankotsu talking about? H-He couldn't have known… He was a mere child… How could he have had known what happened ten years ago?_ ** _How_** **? Who cares?! He's right!**

"No normal person shakes with such a frenzied grip when they think about blood, Doctor. No normal person smiles with such content or joy neither." The doctor's eyes shot up at the boy, as wide as they could be. _How? How and when? When did he see that?_ **Someone who understands, goddammit, finally!**

"I didn't, Doctor." Bankotsu smirked as he wheeled his stand toward the door, the intern barely realizing that he voiced his thoughts. "I only described the first time I met someone who killed someone else. And from your reaction, I want to make you the same offer that I gave my younger brothers." **How old are you again, kid?**

"Ah." Bankotsu spoke, as if he suddenly remembered something. "And I'm eleven, by the way."

With a click of the door, the boy was gone.

* * *

Bankotsu was frowning. He was not pleased, not at all.

Dressed in a blue-collared shirt and ripped jeans with white sneakers to finish, the boy only sported a white bandage over his upper right arm as any indication of the fire, all of this clothing newly bought. Pushing him on a wheelchair, Jakotsu smiled smugly, as he donned a fashionable yellow top over navy jeans, finishing with matching shoes. With a large grin, Mukotsu was dressed in black under a lab coat, following beside the two.

"Tell me again why I am being escorted out of a hospital in a stupid wheelchair." Bankotsu snapped, grouchy.

"Because it is a hospital tradition, Bankotsu no oo-aniki." Jakotsu replied with a smile, Bankotsu only huffing in reply as Mukotsu chuckled at their antics.

Renkotsu and Ginkotsu were back at their new home in the mainland, to which they were making adjustments. After several quick jobs into the night with the assistance of Jakotsu, the two bought the home with cash, ensuring that the dealer was silenced after signing off the home to their name. It was now well into the following evening that Bankotsu was able to sign out of the hospital, and as per tradition, he was currently seated in a wheelchair when both of his legs were perfectly fine.

"This is bullshit." The youngest huffed, as he sported a small pout as Jakotsu and Mukotsu parked him at the waiting room, while they went to the desk to sign him out. "What kind of stupid tradition says that all patients have to escorted out in a wheelchair? You'd think they would try to conserve how many wheelchairs there are in the hospital."

"My thoughts exactly." A dark voice answered as Bankotsu felt his wheelchair propel forward, the light boy falling back against the plastic back of the chair, as he was wheeled out into a hallway with a sharp turn. Looking back at his apparent kidnapper, the boy's cobalt orbs widened with surprise.

 _Dr. Yamato?_ Bankotsu thought rapidly, as he unconsciously gripped the armrests with a white grip, bracing himself for another sharp turn as doctors and patients alike made way. _What the hell? The intern appeared no different than he did this morning. Then what the hell was going on?_

Narrowing his cobalt orbs on the intern, Bankotsu noticed several things. Rather than the serenely smiling intern from this morning, this intern had almost a sneer of arrogance on his face; eyes, in the stead of kindness, glowed with a madness that he was familiar with. Hair wild and robust compared to tidy uplift the doctor favored, Bankotsu smiled.

 _So you are the true Dr. Yamato._ The boy thought as he allowed his body to relax, even laughing a bit as they raced down the halls. Coming to stop before a flight of stairs, with an exchange of looks, one mischievously challenging, the other a scoff of arrogance; Bankotsu found himself raced up the stairs, until they came to the roof of the hospital, overlooking the home island in which they all resided in.

"Hello, Dr. Yamato." Bankotsu smiled as the intern smirked back at him.

"Hello, yourself brat." The doctor replied. "I wanted to uptake you on your offer. But I am not that saint of a doctor. I, unlike him, hold no qualms in murdering and killing like you and your brothers."

"I figured as much." The boy waved aside as he rose an eyebrow. "But what of Dr. Yamato? Will he come back?"

"Eventually, when my hold over the body is taken over." The intern growled as Bankotsu frowned. "That stupid saint of a doctor never knows when to quit."

"Why don't the two of you just co-exist?" Bankotsu pointed out as the intern looked at him as if told him that octopi were related to squirrels. "You can't stop killing as it is the one thing that you take joy in and he can't help helping others since it's the one thing he likes. So, make a compromise."

"Like what?" The intern spat. "So, that we can go skipping with hands together while killing and curing people?"

"No." Bankotsu snapped, his cobalt orbs glaring with a rare anger, making the intern take a step back at the eleven-year-old boy. **Who the hell said he was scared? He wasn't.** _That was scary._ **Shut up.**

"How about you can kill whenever we take on missions and jobs with the rest of us, but when under the down lows, he can work at hospitals and help others as he wishes?" The boy suggested before allowing a smile go over his lips. "After all, how else will you be able to get out of suspicion, right, Doctor?"

The intern was silent, conversing within himself.

 _…I …I think I can do as Bankotsu says, if you promise to stay quiet when I am at the hospital._ **Will you stay quiet when I am killing, you fucking saint?**

 _…I will respect your actions if you do so with mine._ **No crossing the other's business?**

 _…Agreed._ **Fine. If you cross into mine… I swear, I will kill so much that you would never remember to even regret it.**

Opening his eyes, the intern found the boy lax on his wheelchair, arms crossed as if he had already expected the answer before him, lifting out a hand. "Welcome. Suikotsu."

* * *

"Oo-aniki."

Bankotsu shook his head as he felt woozy, as if he had breathed too much of Mukotsu's poisons; his vision clearing from the fogginess from memories as he found his brothers all before him, each sending their own look of worry. Smiling as if to brush it off, their leader cleared his mind. "What?"

"You okay, oo-aniki?" Jakotsu spoke worriedly, his yukata displaying one leg like normal. "Do you want to do this another time?"

"I'm fine." Bankotsu smirked with carefree as he turned to his second-in-command. "Renkotsu, did you find the simulation that corresponds with the Russian liberalists?"

"From the reports, they seem to take on guerrilla warfare as their main strategy." The bald man reported, his lips pulled to a frown as they all bore their true faces before one another, tattoos and in Kyokotsu's case, size along with it. "However, they have also alined themselves within battalions from time to time."

After a moment, the second in command continued.

"I suggest Simulation H36-7 and Simulation H58-9, oo-aniki, seeing how we would have to be separated and have large numbers to fight against in the offense."

Nodding his consent, the leader lifted his aibou over his shoulder, pressing a glowing neon green button, as he spoke walking to the center of the seven. "Unlock."

"Leader of Shichinintai, Bankotsu-sama; acknowledged."

"Begin Simulation H36-7, and H58-9."

"Acknowledged." The computer responded as the leader nodded for his brothers to be in place, dividing themselves accordingly. "Simulation H36-7, starting."

In Simulations from H31 to H40, the Band of Seven was divided into the following: Bankotsu, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu, Jakotsu and Suikotsu, lastly, Mukotsu and Kyokotsu; for the effectiveness of offense, ensuring maximum kill count. It was one of the more liked simulations that the group preferred, as they counted on none other than their corresponding partner and their leader, who was alone but was an ace card when trouble was afoot, able to intervene with any group.

Before each group appeared a foliage of rugged mountainous terrain, as a hidden metal humanoid drones disguised themselves in the background. Charging with a twirl of Banryuu over his head, the leader lunged with a wicked smirk over his lips as faux first blood was spilt.

To his left, Jakotsu took out enemies more than a hundred yards away from him with a swing of his blade, his folded and retractable blade, Jakotsuto, as Suikotsu took out the ones within close combat range, his wolverine-like claws ripping away with the drones as if they were hot blades slicing through butter. To the opposing side, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu set their enemies into mincemeat, as the latter's blades flew through the drones with multiple ease, the former, breathing literal fire from his lips as he drank a flammable tonic. In the outskirts of the foliage, Kyokotsu tore through the drones and humanoids with effortless assaults with his impenetrable skin, the metal crushing under his strength. With poisons and acids that could melt through steel, Mukotsu grinned evilly as the drones disintegrated into rusted piles of rubble from the ones that escaped any of the other six.

In the manner of hours, the seven men stood over a mass of dismantled, melted, half-eaten, sliced, dismembered, and burnt drones; sporting minor but light injury. Scowling lightly at a swipe that one of drones managed to swipe over his right arm, the leader scanned over his men, satisfied before his voice echoed in the faux blood-stained training room, commanding as his men took up their positions once more, this time evenly separated upon their handiwork.

"Simulation H36-7, completed. 100%."

 _He got cut._ Renkotsu noted as he glanced at the others, who too sent a worrying glance at their leader. _He was pretty out of it earlier but I presumed that it was just him dozing off. Maybe…_

Brushing the thought aside for now, the said leader's voice echoed.

"Begin Simulation H58-9."

"Simulation H58-9, starting."

Flat, fields of green appeared at the feet of the seven now as a battalion stood before each, weapons from bayonets to blades at the ready for each as the seven mirrored the same. Barefoot other than his ninja foot webs, Bankotsu leaped into the air, Banryuu raised in a deadly arc as he slashed his blade with a satisfying sing. The clash of metal on metal echoed as the other six followed in their leader's example.

All was going well and dandy as Renkotsu smiled at the effectiveness of Ginkotsu's new grappling hook arm, the said man incapacitated the drones with a swing of the one gripped in the said hook. And with a finishing twirl of Banryuu, the simulation was completed as the seven men awaited their main computer to finish up for the night.

"Simulation H58-9, completed. 100%."

"Alright, men." Bankotsu smirked as he rested his aibou over his shoulder, covered in dark faux blood like the rest of his brothers. "That's all for tonight. And as you are sure, we've got work and I have a bitch math teacher to deal with tomorrow."

Laughs were echoed at the expense of their leader, as the boy's hand shook.

"Oo-aniki?" Jakotsu spoke worried, breaking the merry atmosphere. "Are you—?"

Before the homosexual man could finish, the boy fell forward, Banryuu beside him with a hefty crunch from the machinery under both the leader and his blade.

* * *

Landing in the mainland after informing a panicked Mukotsu and Jakotsu of their newest addition and boarding a plane, Bankotsu was seated in the back of new ebony Hummer, lounging comfortably in a daydream when he was shaken out of it with a violent lurch and a insistent cry of his name.

"Bankotsu no oo-aniki! Oo-aniki! Can we go!? Can we please go?! Oo-aniki, please! Can we please go?!"

"Jakotsu, what are you talking about?" The addressed eleven-year-old replied with a sleepy note, rubbing his eyes. Suikotsu and Mukotsu sent a curious glance towards the back as the leader found himself pulled up from his comfortable position, staring at a odd series of foggy colors out the window as they passed, squinting.

"Ja, what exactly am I looking at?"

Shooting the younger boy before him with an appalled look, the feminine teen pointed out the window at glaringly bright golden yellow letters over a red background, wording it aloud for all to hear. "The Circus, oo-aniki!"

"Can we go? Can we go? Can we please go?" The older returned to his whining as the youngest turned to Suikotsu and Mukotsu with a troubled glance. They were already tired from jet lag and they also had promised to meet with Ginkotsu and Renkotsu at the house.

"Okay, Jakotsu. We'll go." Bankotsu said as Suikotsu was about to pull over when the leader shook his head. "But not right now. After we meet with Renkotsu and Ginkotsu, and have settled in; we'll all go."

"Mou, oo-aniki!" Jakotsu whined, clinging on the younger with an arm looped over the youngest's head before relinquishing with sigh, deciding it was fair. "Fine."

"Now that, that's settled." Bankotsu smirked with an amused note, turning back to the healers of their group. "Let's go home."

True to his words, after introducing Suikotsu and Mukotsu to Renkotsu and Ginkotsu and vice-versa, along with setting up their new home within their new makeshift family; the six of them piled into their vehicles; an excited Jakotsu, a curious Mukotsu, an amused Suikotsu, an anticipating Ginkotsu, a care-free Bankotsu and finally, a skeptical Renkotsu at the wheel.

"Oo-aniki, I doubt we would have any reason to be at this circus nor would any of their acts be legitimate." Renkotsu argued as the leader on the passenger shrugged.

"Look at it this way, Renkotsu." The leader waved a hand as he laced his sneakers. "We've gone through a long day of jet lag and setting up the house. I figured we could have some down time at the circus, and if we don't; we can have some real fun with them later."

Smirking with obvious bloodlust, the boy was well aware of the mirrored look on his brothers. "Deal?"

Thinking it over, the second-in-command consented.

Entering the circus, the four men and two children seated themselves in the main tent among the rows of the audience; filled with excited children, disciplining parents, and shouting teenagers; all awaiting for the show to begin.

And without further a due, it did.

At every act, Renkotsu supplied a counter-argument, proving their tricks and acts counterfeit much to Jakotsu's dismay and irritation. Suikotsu watched the two argue with an amused eyebrow as Mukotsu had thoughts along the lines of 'children of this generation' in a exasperated notion, while Ginkotsu and Bankotsu watched the tennis match play out, thoroughly entertained as the machine man and the leader exchanged shrugs as if to say 'it's not that big of a deal, but okay.'

The tennis match continued throughout the show until a new act began.

Darkness enveloped before a spotlight lit, revealing the ringleader of the circus, a stereotypical pot-bellied man dressed in a colorful suit, with an ebony top hat and cane to finish as he addressed the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, for our final act;" The ringleader whose name Bankotsu had forgotten, deemed it of non importance. "We proudly present you, the human who can interchange his body size! The Giant!"

With the snap of the ringleader's fingers, the lights came on, blinding the audience. Adjusting their gazes, they found a ludicrous sight. Encaged in a prison that was obscenely too large for an elephant, let alone a man; stood such a man. He was no older than Suikotsu, his body built in a medium build and tall in height as his ebony teal spikes for hair stood in short locks. Dressed in a flexible body suit with extendable armor, the man wore a look that the six men had seen before. After all, they wore it all the time in private with one another.

Hatred, madness, vengeance, and most of all, the desire for blood.

Five gazes fixed upon their leader before flickering back to the man, the boy's usually carefree cobalt orbs now a darkened navy, the circus act beginning.

"Do not be fooled!" The ringleader boomed. "Before you is no regular man, but a horrifying monster!"

Then with the spilt-second flash of darkness, gasps and yells of horror were heard; adults and children alike shocked as even the six could not withhold their expressions before the changed man. Donned in the same clothing that grew with his new stature, the man's stature was of a tall five times of his original, his beady ebony orbs bloodshot, his teeth two razor sharp rows of canines. Bankotsu widened his now navy orbs a fraction, Jakotsu looking to Renkotsu for an explanation as the latter found himself without one for once. Mukotsu bore a puzzled expression as Suikotsu did the same, both doctors contemplating ailments that that may have caused the man's ability while Ginkotsu grunted a gasp, studying the gigantic man.

"Oi, R-Hibiki;" Jakotsu began before he corrected himself with the said bald teen's look. "What's the explanation for that?"

"I—." Renkotsu paused, thinking before admitting begrudgingly. "I…don't know…"

Standing, Bankotsu ignored the banter and exited the tent, his brothers following in the darkness as the circus began it's next act. Glancing around for a moment, the leader decided to take no chances.

"Ja, Hibiki, and Usui; take the others and get our things ready for the night. I will call you to tell you when I'm done to pick me up. Shukaku and Yamato, I think our guests will have trouble sleeping tonight." Bankotsu ordered as he smirked at his second-in-command. "We can't have that, now can we?"

Catching on, the second-in-command bowed. "Of course not, oo-aniki."

Pulling a confused Jakotsu with him, the five brothers walked off to the parking lot as their leader disappeared with a fluid leap into the tents, in search for a man in particular with a bloodthirsty smirk on his lips.


End file.
